Dave Schultz Memorial – Iowan Preview

Starting today, action for the Dave Schultz Memorial tournament will get under way in Colorado. 13 Iowans will be competing in the freestyle tournament which starts their action on Friday. Below is a summary of the Iowans competing and any other noteworthy wrestlers in the field.

Joe Colon enters in the tournament as the favorite among USA wrestlers. Colon has not only won the Bill Farrell International tournament, but he also just put up a huge performance in the recent FPL match. Since dropping to 57 kg, Colon has watched his stock soar and he was recently ranked #2 in the latest USA men’s freestyle rankings. Former World 5th place finisher Angel Escobedo will also be a threat in this bracket. While Escobedo is ranked #9 in the latest USA rankings, his experience at the highest level should play into his favor.

61 kg

Joey Lazor – Panther Wrestling Club

Former UNI All-American Joey Lazor will kick off his post collegiate career at one of the toughest American tournaments. This weight class will also feature Junior World team medalist Joey McKenna, who is probably one of the most impressive wrestlers USA has to offer under the age of 20 (Aaron Pico probably being the only one ahead of him).

Marion was a two time NCAA finalist for the Iowa Hawkeyes at 141, and this weekend he will be competing one of the tougher American brackets. He will have USA’s #2 ranked Jordan Oliver and #8 ranked Reece Humphrey, along with the young Zain Retherford. Oliver was the runner-up at last year’s World team trials, and Humphery is a former World team wrestler. Retherford has given Junior world silver medalist Aaron Pico some pretty epic battles over the last year, and I expect he will have little issue stepping into the senior level competition. Also competing will be Cyclone Wrestling Club member Ridge Kiley and Brett Robbins. Robbins has recently made the switch from Greco to freestyle.

70 kg

There are no Iowans at this weight (usually this is where we see Moza Fay), but it will be interesting to watch Mason Manville in this competition. Manville is only a high school junior, who recently left the prestigious Blair Academy to focus on training full time on international wrestling (primarily Greco-Roman). The Cadet world champion is making his senior level debut and will be competing in both styles this week.

74 kg

Moza Fay – Army Wrestling Club

Former Panther All-American Moza Fay will be in a tough weight class with former All-American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, who has seen some international success, and also World University gold medalist Tyler Caldwell. Fay is ranked #5 at 70 kg for USA, and Caldwell is ranked #7 at 74 kg. To speak to the depth of USA’s 74 kg weight class, the #4 ranked wrestler (Andrew Howe) just took home the silver medal at the toughest freestyle tournament in the world (Ivan Yarygin) so the #7 ranking may be a bit misleading.

Deron Winn has been doing some nice things lately for the CWC. Ranked #7 in the USA, Winn has wrestled two bouts in the FPL going 1-1. Not that the FPL uses the exact same rules as freestyle, but Jon Reader who defeated Winn in his FPL loss, was trying to avenge a loss where Winn defeated Reader 8-4 at the Bill Farrell. Sorenson made his debut for the PWC at the Bill Farrell, going 3-2 losing to eventual champion Richard Perry and also losing by fall to Junior World medalist Patrick Downey.

Burak will be the lone representative this year for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club. Former Cyclone wrestler David Zabriske will also be competing at this weight. Zabriske now works out at the Lehigh Valley Athletic Club. The Cyclone Wrestling Club will be represented by Matt Gibson.

125 kg

Jake Scanlan – OTC

Scanlan will be in a rather small bracket, but it does boast two-time NCAA champion and #8 ranked Tony Nelson.